


It can't be helped, really.

by Jyou_no_Sonoko



Category: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV 2018)
Genre: A witch abroad, Another in my series of 'Zelda has spent a lot of time in Japan' headcanons, Gen, Japanese Mythology & Folklore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:48:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24060841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jyou_no_Sonoko/pseuds/Jyou_no_Sonoko
Summary: Written for the Magical Fic Generator Challenge on tumblr döt côm. The specifications were for a 'philia' (friendship-themed) piece, featuring Zelda and an OC.Zelda spends an evening with a Japanese friend, catching up on the events of each other's lives in a peaceful setting.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	It can't be helped, really.

**Author's Note:**

> 'Shouganai' is a very versatile Japanese phrase, with a broad translation of 'It can't be helped', but with implications that there's no use getting upset over things outside of one's control, that what's done is done, and one must therefore live with it as best one can.

From the raised walkway, Zelda gazed across the one hundred thousand blooming irises, a delight of violet and snowy-white, that brought so many to Kitayama Park. It was hardly an unknown destination, touted as one of the main beauty spots on the outskirts of Tokyo, heading north-east towards Tokorozawa, but most foreign visitors had limited time in the country, and treading too far from the nation's capital was not common for all but tourists of aesthetics. As such, there were no noisy groups to break the tranquillity of the early evening, where the sun bid its polite 'osaki ni' to Higashimurayama City.

Even here, though, it was a rare sight to see the passage of a tiny red and silver fox, pushing aside the blooms as it darted out of day-time hiding. The creature headed straight for Zelda, then at the last moment veered left and leapt clear over the little walkway, vanishing again into the sea of purple, in the direction of a covered seating area, old and hewn of dark wood.

Zelda watched it go over her shoulder, a small smile playing across her compact lips. She stayed a little longer, watching as the light dimmed and the last of the people trickled out of the park. Then, hoisting her black shoulderbag – functional yet sequinned – back where it belonged, she headed in the same direction as the fox had, which would eventually lead to the exit, and her planned meeting with a local acquaintance, over _sake_.

Soon she sat under the moon, upon a deck lit by artful floodlights, the tall and thin drinks menu in hand. A shuffling came from the bushes beyond the deck, but she paid it no mind, only traced the options with a dignified black fingernail.

“ _Konbanha, Zelda-san._ ”

She lowered the menu, revealing the sharp featured woman seated across from her, wrapped in a midnight-blue yukata. “The same to you, Yuuko-san. Beautiful night, isn't it?”

The woman tipped her face to the sky, traced the stars with deep hazel eyes. The low-lighting picked out the stray silver along her hairline and temples, amongst what was otherwise jet-black.

“The Aonuma boy is leaving food out for me again,” Yuuko said wistfully. “He's lonely.”

Zelda scoffed. “He's too old for that now. Doesn't he know what this will lead to?”

Yuuko smiled and picked up her own menu. “He does. As did his sister.”

“Well, then I suppose it can't be helped.”

They paused their discussion to order from the waiter, then Yuuko changed the topic without bothering to segue.

“When will you return to America?”

“Sooner than I would have liked, regrettably. My brother's wife is with child.”

“Then congratulations are in order, are they not?”

“It's... complicated. The woman is a mortal.”

“Ah. And you don't approve.”

“It's not that I don't, exactly. I'm sure she'd be an excellent wife to another of her people. But Edward, he has already risked his standing by pursuing her, and I had rather hoped the shine would have worn off by now. It certainly will eighty or ninety years from now, when--”

“When he is as handsome as ever and she is on her deathbed?”

“As you say. And bringing a half-breed child into this world...” She shook her head, hinting at the distress which was too unseemly to fully let out. “It's not right. The child will never belong, neither amongst mortal peers, nor at the Academy.”

“And what of your Lucifer-sama?”

Zelda sighed, the question clearly a familiar guest in her thoughts. “The Dark Lord seems to have given His blessing, but... I fear there are secrets being kept amongst men.”

A resigned noise from the throat of the other woman. “Aren't there always?”

Silence descended, filled by the chirping of cicadas which thrived in the balmy air. And presently continued, as they sipped expensive sake for which there would be no bill. Their spirits shared the same space contentedly, though their conversation never fully sprung up again.

Once the glow of the sake had softened her ears and lingered brightly on her lips, Zelda stood, pulled a small wrapped token from her bag and placed it upon the table.

“From my sister. She says it will heal your foot.”

Yuuko accepted it with gratitude. “That farmer is cursed now. It's out of my hands.”

“Quite right. There's nothing to be done about it.”

“ _Shouganai, yo_.”

“ _Shouganai desu ne._ ”


End file.
